By night, Love, tie your heart to mine, and the two together in their sleep will defeat the darkness.
– Pablo Neruda
Writing Prompt: Safety in numbers
I looked around the room and saw nothing but friends. As the waitress topped up my glass with Sauvignon Blanc, I saw people who had traveled from the US, London, North Berwick and Glasgow among other places to help celebrate my birthday. I got a lot of cards. Most of them had kittens on them. I didn’t realise I was so transparent in my affection for them. Something about kittens makes me smile.
There was a mix of people there that I had known at various stages in my life. The nice thing was, that over the years, although they came from different places and different walks of life, everyone got on. It made me happy to wander from one end of the table to another and see my friends chatting away together. I felt safe and I felt loved. People made the effort.
I know a lot of people compartmentalise their lives by keeping groups of friends separate. It’s interesting when you consider that most people show a different face to people they know from work, or school, university, the gym, or any other place. Last night it didn’t matter to me how these people had come into my life, it just mattered that they’d got there.
I’ll leave you with this, how differently do you behave in the various snapshots of your life? What is it that makes you suddenly let someone into your own, weird little world? With some people, it took a few weeks, others a year or two and others still, one night of good conversation was enough.
Writing Prompt: Safety in numbers
Desire – Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Where true Love burns Desire is Love’s pure flame;
It is the reflex of our earthly frame,
That takes its meaning from the nobler part,
And but translates the language of the heart.
Writing Prompt: Missing
I know there’s a full moon out tonight, but I can’t see it through the mist and rain. One of my favourite things is to sit on the bench in my garden and watch the moon rise. I guess I’ll be deprived of that tonight, but I like the idea that it’s there, even without the clear view.
It makes me think of some of the other things in life that we depend on, even when you can’t see them. Love is that way, so is friendship. If it’s real, it doesn’t end, even when you can’t communicate. I’m missing some key people in my life right now; people I can’t see or speak to for various reasons, but find myself thinking about them a lot lately.
Is there someone you haven’t spoken to in a while that you miss? If you had a few minutes to say anything to them, what would it be?
Writing Prompt: Missing
